Alkali, scientifically known as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), commonly known as caustic soda and caustic soda, is a strong alkali with strong corrosiveness. It is corrosive to fibers, skin, glass, ceramics, etc., and releases heat when dissolved. Caustic soda can be divided into two categories: “liquid alkali” and “solid alkali”. Solid alkali is actually solid NaOH, and liquid alkali is a NaOH aqueous solution with mainstream specifications of 30%, 32%, 48%, 49%, and 50% concentration. In the instrument industry, it can be used as an acid neutralizer, decolorizer, and deodorizer. In the adhesive industry, it is used as a starch gelatinizer and neutralizer.
In solid state, caustic soda can be divided into flake caustic soda, solid caustic soda and granular caustic soda. Flake caustic soda is widely used in industries and agriculture, such as oil drilling, printing and dyeing, pesticide manufacturing, papermaking, synthetic detergents, soaps, etc. The alkalinity of flake caustic soda is greater than that of caustic soda. For users with high alkalinity requirements, caustic soda is undoubtedly better than flake caustic soda. Flake caustic soda can be used as a desiccant and has a strong ability to absorb water molecules in the air. The price of caustic soda is generally more expensive than flake caustic soda.
The other base in the “three acids and two bases” is actually “soda ash”
Soda ash is Na2CO3, and the corrosiveness of soda ash is not as strong as that of caustic soda. Caustic soda belongs to “alkali”, while soda ash belongs to “salt”. The main component is sodium carbonate, which is alkaline when dissolved in water. Sodium carbonate containing ten crystal waters is colorless crystal. Its crystals are unstable and easily weathered in the air to form white powdery sodium carbonate. The raw materials of caustic soda and soda ash are both “salt”, and both belong to the salt chemical industry. More than 90% of my country’s raw salt is used for soda ash and caustic soda, of which caustic soda consumption accounts for about 55.8% and soda ash accounts for about 38.2%. The downstream of caustic soda and soda ash are also used in alumina, printing and dyeing, papermaking and other industries, and both belong to basic chemical raw materials. Since the two have the same source, their downstream also has a certain degree of overlap. The price correlation of caustic soda and soda ash is relatively high, with a correlation coefficient of 0.7, and the trends are basically the same.
The relationship between caustic soda and soda ash is that soda ash can be obtained by heating caustic soda. When caustic soda is heated to a high temperature, a hydrolysis reaction occurs to produce sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate is soda ash. Therefore, caustic soda is one of the precursors of soda ash.
Post time: Nov-26-2024
